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Ethan Burch

Georgia’s senior quarterback chose not to throw during an August practice in the Bulldogs’ Fall Camp due to the fact his arm had been overused. He was just tired, though. Mason’s shoulder hasn’t been an issue lately, according to head coach Mark Richt.

Following his absence in the Vanderbilt game, J.J. Green returns to Georgia’s lineup at a pivotal time for its defensive backs. He, along with Tramel Terry, is a player to look for at Missouri on Saturday.

“He’s practicing. He doesn’t seem to have any limitations,” head coach Mark Richt said. “Tramel (hamstring) has been practicing just a hair more tentative, but I think by the end of the week he’ll be good.”

Terry has made moves in the right direction in Georgia’s lineup recently.

Dominick Sanders is a freshman who has put himself in the right position to play at Georgia, regardless of where it may be in the Bulldogs’ defensive backfield.

“He doesn’t make a lot of mental errors,” Richt said. “He does tackle well in space. He competes extremely well. He’ll make a mistake here and there. He’ll get beat here and there, but at lets you know he’s preparing as well as a guy can prepare. We feel like we’re coaching the right guy. We just think he’s going to get better and better.”

Malcolm Mitchell nearly watched another game from the sidelines Saturday.

Anyone who glanced at the week’s headlines would have expected both Mitchell and Justin Scott-Wesley, the junior wideouts who had yet to play a game this season, to play in the Vanderbilt game. Head coach Mark Richt wasn’t so sure of that in the day leading up to the game.

While Mitchell took the field on Saturday and made one catch for 11 yards, Scott-Wesley did not. Richt said on Wednesday both would, “definitely play,” barring any setbacks later in the week.

In a season where Georgia lost nearly every offensive weapon, losing to Vanderbilt seemed to be as bad as it could get.

The No. 15 Bulldogs faltered in Nashville last season, dropping its second conference game of the year in a 31-27 loss to the Commodores. For Georgia, who is 11-2 against Vanderbilt under coach Mark Richt, that’s a loss that sticks with you for a while. The Bulldogs have a chance to erase that memory with a win today.

There was a time former Florida quarterback Tim Tebow wouldn’t be received so well in Athens.

It’s a good thing the Georgia-Florida rivalry is played in Jacksonville, because fans may not have treated the former Heisman Trophy winner so politely from 2006-2009, a span of years where Georgia only beat the Gators once and Tebow helped lead Florida to two national titles. As an SEC Nation co-host, however, Tebow is enjoying the Classic City this weekend.

Senior wideout Chris Conley was named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Award in an announcement made by the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame on Thursday.

The Georgia receiver is one of eight players in the Southeastern Conference to make the cut of 167. In order to win this award, a player must be considered a top scholar-athlete in the country. Up to 16 of the chosen candidates will be named recipients of a NFF National Scholar-Athlete Award and will be included as finalists for the Campbell Trophy.

Limitations due to class standing is quickly becoming a thing of the past in college football.

The days of ‘wait your turn, freshman’ are long gone. That’s the case in Athens, anyway. Georgia has a Heisman Trophy candidate in the backfield, but also has two true freshman tailbacks averaging nearly 10 yards a carry through three games — in the SEC. Remember when coach Mark Richt redshirted Knowshon Moreno in 2006?

Georgia’s defenders found themselves near the end zone they were protecting on Saturday, with Troy having marched down near the goal line twice in the Bulldogs’ 66-0 win.

Both times the No. 13 Bulldogs sent the Trojans’ offense to the sideline with no points to preserve the shutout. Two red zone appearances for Troy resulted in zilch. Jeremy Pruitt kept the instructions simple when Troy’s offense appeared threatening.